Stranger in the Shogun’s City is Masterful History and Storytelling

Through her letters, Tsuneno also revives prominent figures in her life. There’s Tsuneno’s older brother Giyu, constantly torn between concern and exasperation over his sister’s bullheaded ways. We meet Chikan, the family acquaintance who guides Tsuneno to Edo, and who may have pressured her into sex. Her humiliation over these circumstances lingers but Tsuneno shoulders her regrets and carries on.

Then there’s Tsuneno’s fourth and final husband Hirosuke, who is just as foul-tempered as Tsuneno. He elevates Tsuneno’s social status but also becomes a source of frustration. It’s not easy being a woman in any era. But for the unmarried, middle-aged Tsuneno, blamed for the failures of her previous marriages, Edo made her position more precarious. Yet Tsuneno finds some satisfaction in choosing marriage on her own terms, without her family’s input:

Three times, her family had told her which man they’d chosen and where she was going. They would say the name and tell her something about the family, and she would see her future unfold: temple mistress, peasant, townswoman. Now the choice was hers.

Stranger in the Shogun’s City, p. 155

…Lost in a city

It’s beyond refreshing to experience history through the eyes of someone like Tsuneno rather than a high-ranking samurai or politician. Stanley’s masterful storytelling transports the reader to Tsuneno’s side. One can almost feel her shiver in a drafty tenement, thrill in the colorful theater district, agonize over finances, complain about her fourth husband, and butt heads with her brothers.

Yet despite it all, Tsuneno holds true to her dream of becoming a true Edoite. Even if the price is poverty and formal expulsion from her family.

It was as if they believed that a succession of letters and lists might turn her into the sister and daughter they had all expected. Click To Tweet

Fascinating storytelling aside, at times I felt slightly lost in the narrative, much like I was lost in an actual city. While descriptions of international and domestic events obviously helped provide contours to Tsuneno’s life, some of the other historical deep dives Stanley embarked on, while intriguing to an avid history reader like myself, took me further away from Tsuneno. I couldn’t help wondering, “Where are we going with this?”

But then Stanley would unerringly bring Tsuneno back into the fold, and I’d think, “Aha, that’s why we took that historical detour.” The pacing may have been too drawn out in parts. However, no matter where we end up, Tsuneno’s life remains the heart of Stranger.

Both stranger and friend

What makes Tsuneno so fascinating is how the general tableau of her life still rings true in today’s world. Who hasn’t met or been someone bucking tradition and societal expectations to pursue her dreams? Or struggled to make ends meet while determined to carve a space for herself in a place indifferent to her success? Who hasn’t hopped from job to job, shouldered the judgment of friends and family, or felt stuck on a life path with no light at the end of the tunnel?

Tsuneno may have lived in a different place and time. But given the multitude of domestic and worldwide crises currently happening, Tsuneno’s struggles and triumphs are all the more relatable.

Her letters had drastically changed in tone. For three years she had been defiant, but now she was reflective, humbled, nearly defeated. She was terrified of getting old and dying in squalor. ‘Nothing has gone the way I’ve planned,’ she wrote. ‘I never intended to struggle so much.’

Stranger in the Shogun’s City, p. 188

Stranger in the Shogun’s City: A Must Read

Minor pacing issues aside, Stranger is an absolute must-read. It’s truly the closest one can get to time-travel through the printed word. Tsuneno wasn’t a major player in the political and social machinations hurling Edo and Japan towards a new era. However, Stanley convincingly argues that migrants like her were essential to Edo’s growth.

Whether Tsuneno thought the loss of her family was worth gaining a city is never clear. Nevertheless, thanks to Stanley’s impeccable research and riveting storytelling, Tsuneno, at least, is no stranger to us.

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